Seat support



Dec. 19, 1961 s. EISEN 3,013,795

SEAT SUPPORT Fild June 20, 1958 TILE- Z... Z)Q 5 J28 BY 52 T 3' ATTORNEY Unie States atent nice Fatented Dec. 19,1951

The present invention relates generally to improvements in furniture construction, and in particular it relates to an improved cushion support for use in chairs, sofas, benches or similar articles of furniture.

In the conventional upholstered chair or the like there are usually provided one or more upholstered cushions which are supported on and by the chair base frame, usually atop a resilient support. These cushion supports are normally permanently secured to the base frame and are of a relatively complex and expensive nature. They may include a plurality of springs and cross straps in order to firmly support the seat and yet be sufiiciently resilient for comfort. Cushion supports heretofore available were either complex and highly expensive or lacking in the required qualities and thus left much to be desired.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved article of furniture.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved upholstered chair construction.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved seat cushion support.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved seat cushion support capable of supporting and sustaining, firmly and resiliently, an upholstered cushion, and characterized by its optimum response under load conditions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved seat cushion support of rugged, simple and inexpensive construction.

Other and further objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and in part specifically pointed out in the following description of illustrative embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view, partially broken away, of an upholstered chair employing the improved seat cushion support of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1 showing the cushion support in plan;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view along the line 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view along the line 44 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view, partiallybroken away for convenience of illustration, of another form of the improved seat cushion support constructed according to and embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view along the line 6- 6 in FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of still another form of improved seat cushion support, also constructed according to and embodying the present invention.

In a sense, the present invention contemplates the proline of the support may be square, rectangular, oval,.circular or of any other outline. The improved device is preferably formed of a single length of wire having its free ends joined by welding or the like so as to produce a single endless element. Moreover, the bridge'rnembers which interconnect the free ends of the arms should permit a restricted relative free movement thereof.

The advantages gained by employing the seat of the present invention are many. It employs relatively inexpensive material and requires ordinarily available machinery for the desired shaping and permits the use of relatively unskilled labor in. fabrication and in applica- 1 tion to the furniture frame with which it is to be associated in use. In the preferred arrangement, the base frame of the chair or other furniture construction is provided with a groove along its inner upper periphery, the

URES 1 through 4 thereof, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, reference numeral 10 generally designates an upholstered chair or other a1- ticle of upholstered furniture which includes a seat cushion support 12 constructed in accordance with the present invention. Chair ltd comprises a substantially rectangular wooden base frame 14 mounted on legs 16 which depend from corners of frame 14. Chair it} is provided with side arms 18 and an upholstered back rest 26 of conventional construction. An annular groove 22 of rectangular cross section is formed along the upper inner periphery of base frame 14 and is provided with a horizontal shoulder 24.

The cushion seat support 12 is formed of a single length of preferably tempered spring wire whose free ends are joined such as by welding or the like, as indicated at 26 (FIGURE 2), to form an endless run. The support 12, as shown, is of overall rectangular configuration and is provided at each corner thereof with a pair of peripherally extending diverging border elements .8 and 29, extending at right angles to each other. The outer ends of border elements 25 and 2.9 of adjacent corners are peripherally spaced from each other. Projecting inwardly from the outer ends of each of elements 28 and 2? and substantially perpendicular thereto are inwardly directed arms 32 and 33 respectively which converge toward a point diagonally opposite to the corresponding corner joining elements 28 and 29. The inner ends of the arms 32 and 33 of adjacent corner frames (each of which is defined by elements 28, 29 and arms 32 and 33) are interconnected by a bridge or cross member 34. As set forth above, the border elements 28, 29, the arms 32,33 and the bridge members 34 are integrally formed of a single endless length of wire. Adjacent corners 35 defined by the junctions of arms 32, 33 and cross pieces 3 are connected by a coupling element 36, each of which is preferably formed of a steel metal band which includes a pair of opposite loop sections 37 which engage and encircle adjacent corner portions 34, loop sections 37 being connected by a bridge section 38. The coupling effected between corners 35 by elements 36, while providing support between the members extending therefrom, permits free relative movementthereof. it will be seen that the corners or any portions defined by the junctions of the various members forming the support 12 are preferably rounded. I

The seat cushion support 12 is mounted on the base frame 14, being nested in peripheral groove 22, with the border elements 28 and 29 resting on the groove shoulder 24. A cushion 39, stuffed or otherwise upholstered, is supported by and rests on support 12.

As a specific example of a seat support 12 which has proven highly satisfactory, the wire forming the support was a number gauge (.207 inch diameter) tempered spring wire. The overall dimensions were 19% inches by 18% inches, the border elements 28 and 29 along the forward and rear edges being 7 inches long and 6% inches along the side edges. The distance separating peripherally spaced arms 32, 33 along the forward and rear edges is 5 /2 inches and 5 /4 inches along the side edges. The dimensions of the rectangle defined by the bridge portions 34 are 6% inches wide and 6 /2 inches deep, and the distance between the separated adjacent corners 35 is approximately /2 inch.

In FIGURES 5 and 6 of the drawing there is illus trated another embodiment of the present invention, likewise of overall rectangular configuration and similarly formed of a single endless length of resilient wire. Border elements 41 and 42 extend at right angles to each other from the corners of the cushion support 40 and terminate at points peripherally spaced from the adjacent aligned legs 41 and 42. The ends of the border elements 41 and 42 are connected by integral cross pieces 43 which extend completely across the cushion support, parallel to the edges thereof and intersecting at points to define five diagonally arranged rectangular corner connected sub-frames of substantially similar dimensions. Substantially circular clips 44, formed of metallic bands, couple cross-pieces 43 at their points of overlap or intersection, so as to afford mutual support between the intersecting legs 43 while permitting relative free movement thereof. The use of the cushion support 40 is similar to that described above in connection with the support 12.

As a specific example of the support 40 which has proven highly satisfactory, the support is formed of a number 5 gauge (.207 inch diameter) tempered spring wire and has overall dimensions of 19% inches by 18% inches. The legs 41 and 42 along the forward and rear edges are 6% inches long and along the side edges 6% inches long. The spacing between cross-pieces 43 is 6 inches.

While the previously-described embodiments of the present invention described above are of rectilinear configuration and construction and are provided with four corner sections, it should be noted that the support as well as the sections forming the support may assume other configurations, such as of a curved nature and the number of radiating elements may likewise vary and be in excess of four in number.

In FIGURE 7 of the drawing there is illustrated a cushion support 50 in which the rectilinear legs have been replaced by curved sections. More particularly, there are provided four symmetrically disposed radiating substantially circular corner wire sections 51 which include a peripheral portion 52, which would be equivalent to the elements 28 and 29 of the first described embodiment and inwardly directed arms 53 corresponding to arms 32 and 33. Adjacent arms 53 are joined by an arcuately shaped bridge portion 54 corresponding to bridge 34, adjacent portions of the bridges 54 being connected by coupling elements 56 similar to coupling elements 36. In operation and application, the cushion support 50 is similar to those previously set forth.

While I have shown the seat support of the present invention as resting directly in a groove on the base frame, it is to be understood that the seat support may be covered or encased in any suitable material so as to prevent direct contact between the metal of the seat support and the cushion normally disposed above it.

While there has been described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is apparent that numerous alterations and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having now described my invention, what is claimed and described to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An improved furniture structure comprising a frame member, a seat support formed of a continuous length of spring wire and including a plurality of peripherally spaced and peripherally extending border members resting on said frame member and lying in a common substantially fiat plane, a pair of arms projecting inwardly from the spaced ends of each of said border members, said pairs of arms substantially converging toward separate points, and elongated bridge members extending between the free ends of adjacent arms of different pairs thereof, and coupling elements loosely connecting the inner ends of each of said pairs of arms.

2. An improved seat support comprising a plurality of angular members located at the corners of a substantially flat rectangle, each of said angular members including a pair of first arms directed along the sides of said rectangle and terminating at ends spaced from the ends of first arms directed thereto from adjacent corner members, a second arm projecting inwardly from the end of each of said first arms, pairs of said second arms extending from first arms of a common corner member substantially converging toward and loosely interconnected at a predetermined point, said first and second arms being formed of resilient material, and elongated bridge members extending between the inner ends of pairs of second arms which extend from the ends of first arms directed toward each other from adjacent corner members.

3. A seat support according to claim 2 including coupling elements effecting said interconnections of said pairs of second arms.

4. An improved seat support in accordance with claim 2, wherein said second arms are parallel to the sides of said rectangle.

5. An improved seat support in accordance with claim 2 formed of an endless length of spring wire.

6. An improved furniture structure including a frame member and a seat support mounted on said frame member and formed of an endless length of wire comprising a plurality of identically sized and shaped open border elements lying in a substantially fiat, common plane, each including a peripheral portion and a pair of in wardly extended converging arms, an integral bridge joining the inner ends of adjacent arms of adjacent border elements, said border elements and arms being formed of a spring material, and means connecting the inner ends of the arms of each border element at the point of greatest proximity thereof.

7. An improved furniture structure as in claim 6, wherein the peripheral portions and the arms are convexly curved and the bridge portions are concavely curved.

8. An improved furniture structure as in claim 6, wherein each peripheral portion comprises a pair of elements at ri ht angles to each other, and the arm extending inwardly from one element is parallel to the other element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 49,476 Mallory Aug. 15, 1865 50,471 Hawkins Oct. 17, 1865 973,847 Bannett et a1. Oct. 25, 1910 1,189,951 Hurd et al. July 4, 1916 1,644,020 Johnson Oct. 4, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS 647 Great Britain Jan. 10, 1903 6,906 Great Britain Mar. 10, 1910 252,855 Great Britain June 10, 1926 509.645 Germany Oct. 21, 1930 56,700 Netherlands July 15, 1944 

